The coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 880,000 people worldwide since the end of December.

Spain, a European country among the most affected, has exceeded the bar of 500,000 cases diagnosed, according to the latest report published Monday, September 7 by the Ministry of Health.

"The situation is much more favorable" than in the spring, underlined Monday the chief epidemiologist of the Ministry of Health, Fernando Simon.

"But we are still in an upward phase," he warned.

Despite the worrying context, schools have reopened in the country, even though many parents refuse to send their children back to class, despite the threat of sanctions.

"They are doing an experiment to see what will happen, like with guinea pigs", indignant Aroa Miranda, mother of two boys of 8 and 3 years old who will not put them back. school this week in Castellon de la Plana (east).

The epidemic is also gaining ground in France where 4,000 new cases were identified on Monday, after a peak of 9,000 on Friday.

Schools closed in Casablanca

In Casablanca, Morocco, schools remained closed on Monday to the disappointment of parents and students on this start day.

"We risk being overwhelmed by the virus. Therefore, drastic measures are necessary, otherwise the situation may be uncontrollable in the days to come", said Sunday evening the Minister of Health Khalid Ait Taleb in a statement to the press.

The epidemiological situation in Morocco, a country of 35 million inhabitants, has been marked by an upsurge in Covid-19 cases since early August.

A total of 72,394 contaminations, including 1,361 deaths, have been recorded since March.

India, for its part, became the second country in the world on Monday after the United States with the highest number of Covid-19 cases and overtakes Brazil.

This did not prevent the country from reopening, with strict sanitary precautions, the metro which had been stationary for almost six months in its major cities including the capital New Delhi where masked passengers made the V of victory in front of journalists.

As of Monday, India had 4.2 million infections since the start of the crisis, Brazil 4.14 million and the United States 6.29 million.

For deaths, India arrives with 71,642 dead behind the United States (189,618) and Brazil (126,960) among the three countries most bereaved in the world by the virus.

But many experts believe the actual numbers to be higher in India, arguing that testing is insufficient and death tolls go unrecorded.

Ashleigh Barty gives up on Roland-Garros

The world of sport continues to bear the brunt of the pandemic.

After having already withdrawn from the US Open because of the epidemic, the world number one in tennis, Ashleigh Barty, who won Roland Garros last year, gave up going to Paris, citing "the health risks ".

Postponed to the fall due to the pandemic, Roland-Garros must start on September 27 with a reduced wing, a masked audience, and players confined in two hotels in the area and regularly subjected to tests.

On the football side, the star of the France team Kylian Mbappé, tested positive for Covid-19, had to forfeit the closed-door match against Croatia scheduled for Tuesday evening in Saint-Denis, near Paris.

His teammates Paul Pogba and Houssem Aouar, who had contracted the virus at the end of August, also missed their summons to the world champion team.

"The Games that will have defeated the Covid"

Despite the uncertainties, a senior official from the International Olympic Committee said on Monday that the Tokyo Games, postponed to 2021, would go well next year "with or without" coronavirus.

"It will be the Games that will have defeated the Covid, the light at the end of the tunnel," John Coates told AFP the president of the IOC coordination committee for the 2020 Olympics.

Japan's borders currently remain largely closed to foreigners.

Many experts doubt the pandemic will be under control by next summer.

And, according to several recent polls, a clear majority of Japanese want a further postponement of the Olympics or their cancellation.

With AFP

The summary of the week

France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 application

google-play-badge_FR